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Joe Scarborough is sparring with the NRSC over whether or not they want him to run for Senate, Rick Santorum says there's nothing hypocritical about Newt Gingrich's family values, and Haley Barbour has gotten a boost in New Hampshire.

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Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel said last month that he had contacted former Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.) about running for her old seat in 2012.

And for good reason: Herseth Sandlin, much like many Democrats in tough districts, was popular in her home area before falling victim to a tough 2010 election year. Israel, recognizing the rough terrain for Democrats in South Dakota, would obviously love having someone like Herseth Sandlin trying to reclaim her seat in 2012.

Unfortunately for Israel, she may have other plans. After joining a Washington law firm earlier this month, Herseth Sandlin on Thursday dissolved her campaign committee - a move that generally means a candidate has no plans to make a quick return to politics.

In fact, Herseth Sandlin is just the latest 2010 loser to close down his or her committee; she joins a host of former Democratic members from conservative-leaning districts who have done the same.

Former Blue Dog Reps. Bobby Bright (D-Ala.), Baron Hill (D-Ind.), Walt Minnick (D-Idaho) and Travis Childers (D-Miss.) and another conservative Democrat, former Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), have also shuttered their campaign committees in the aftermath of the 2010 election. (Hill has said he will not run again.)

Those five candidates, along with Herseth Sandlin, represent six of the most conservative districts that Democrats lost in 2010. And that's not good news for their party, which may find it hard to replace those candidates' prowess on the ballot.

The knock on former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's chances of winning the 2012 GOP presidential nod is that he is just "too nice" -- not a charismatic enough figure to get voters excited enough to vote for him.

Maybe.

But, every candidate weighing a run for the Republican presidential nod has at least one major flaw -- many of them larger than Pawlenty's alleged charisma deficit.

So, could Pawlenty's lack of major weaknesses actually be his greatest strength in the nomination fight?

We explore that idea in today's episode of the "Fast Fix".

And, don't forget to check out all of our "Fast Fix" videos here. And, if you have a topic you want to see us break down in "Fast Fix" just email chris.cillizza@wpost.com with it.

Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.) at the House Committee on Homeland Security in Washington, DC on March 10, 2011. Washington Post Photo by Linda Davidson

Yesterday's high-profile House hearing organized by New York Rep. Peter King (R) on "The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response" turned out to be something well short of the witch hunt warned of by liberals.

In fact, Republicans and Democrats spent most of the four-hour event arguing over whether it should have happened in the first place.

In the world of Washington politics, governors races are often overshadowed by the fight for control of the House and Senate.

But the last three weeks in Wisconsin have proven -- yet again -- that what goes on in the states has reverberations in politics across the country.

And, it's not just Wisconsin where newly elected governors are at the center of the budget fights and broader economic arguments that are impacting the country.

Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy (D) is facing down the Nutmeg State's budget gap and polling that suggests his proposed solutions is something short of popular.

Ditto New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who has laid out a series of cuts designed to close a $10 billion budget gap.

In Ohio, Gov. John Kasich (R) is set to unveil what will undoubtedly be a controversial budget next week aimed at closing an $8 billion deficit.

With so many newly-elected governors stepping into the national spotlight, the 2012 gubernatorial elections, which will elect another crop of chief executives tasked with addressing the economic problems in the states, can't be ignored.

After the jump are the five governor's races most likely to switch parties in 2012. The No. 1 ranked race is the most likely to flip. What did we miss? The comments section awaits.

Sarah Palin's unfavorable rating has spiked to a new high, adding further fuel to the argument that her presidential campaign may be doomed before it begins.

A new Bloomberg poll shows the former Alaska governor is now viewed unfavorably by 60 percent of American adults. That's higher than any other poll has shown, but it's not even the entire picture.

Of that 60 percent, nearly two-thirds - 38 percent of all adults - say they view the former GOP vice presidential nominee "very unfavorably." No other politicians tested even comes close, including President Obama (22 percent). What's more, Palin's unfavorable rating is more than twice as high as her favorable rating, which rests at just 28 percent. Another 12 percent aren't sure how they feel about her.

The poll follows a long and continuous trend in which, as the presidential race nears, people gradually find that they like Palin less and less.

In fact, the numbers are starting to look a lot like someone else's: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Except that they are worse.

Mitt Romney is picking up support in New Hampshire and Florida, Ike Skelton has landed on his feet, Mitch Daniels is doing "Meet the Press" and the Nevada 2012 races are heating up.

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Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels isn't backing down from his suggestion that Republicans declare a "truce" on social issues.

In a new interview for the online television program "Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson", Daniels expands on the idea he first laid out in a profile for the Weekly Standard that economic issues -- and the debt in particular -- should take precedence over social issues.

"If you don't believe that the American public is mortally threatened -- as I do -- by this one overriding problem we have built for ourselves, then of course I'm wrong," Daniels told Robinson in an excerpt of the interview, which is set to air on Monday. "All I was saying was, we're going to need to unify all kinds of people, and we're going -- freedom is going -- to need every friend it can get."

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine is still undecided about the Virginia Senate race. Photo by Tracy A Woodward/The Washington Post

It's been 29 days since Virginia Sen. Jim Webb (D) announced he wouldn't run for a second term in 2012.

And, for every one of those 29 days there has been only one question on the minds of political strategists in both parties: Is Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine going to run?

The Kaine timetable to announce his decision has been decidedly fungible. Some sources familiar with his thinking said he wanted to make a quick choice and would announce whether he was in or out before the state party's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on Feb. 19. Or not.

Today came word that Kaine, who has been on vacation for the last week, would have nothing public to say about his plans today or tomorrow. As for an announcement at an event this weekend for former Rep. Rick Boucher in southwestern Virginia? Not going to happen, according to an official authorized to speak on the former Virginia governor's behalf.

So, what -- if anything -- does Kaine's continued public silence on the race tell us about the chances he ultimately runs?